Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., goes to an elevator on Capitol Hill in Washington Thursday, July 15, 2010, after Congress passed the stiffest restrictions on banks and Wall Street since the Great Depression. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Feinstein joins Twitter after opponent mocks her for not using it

California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein joined Twitter Sunday, following a dig by her newly announced Republican opponent that she was “out of touch” with her constituents because she had failed to embrace social media.

“If you want to know what she’s doing in Washington, you’ll have to mail her a letter or send her a telegram to ask,” Elizabeth Emken, a Republican challenger for Feinstein’s seat, said in a fundraising letter.

There is certainly a generation gap between the two women: Feinstein is 78 years old and Emken is 48.

Feinstein already had a Twitter account, but she had never tweeted. On Monday she created a brand new Twitter account and sent out five tweets, including a link to last Tuesday’s State of the Union address.

Her Facebook account, though it has about 20,000 followers, has not seen any activity since October 2010. On Monday a new Facebook account was created, and shows the same activity as the new Twitter feed.

Bill Carrick, a consultant for Feinstein, said there was no connection between Emken’s fundraising letter and Feinstein’s entry into the world of Twitter. He told Mercurynews.com that starting a Twitter account was something she had already planned to do.

Emken’s staff was unconvinced by that explanation.

“I guess the Senior Senator from California finally realized that this whole Internet thing is starting to catch on,” Emken Senior Communications Adviser Mark Standriff said in a statement provided to The Daily Caller.